Well I made it through my first stint on jury duty. It was pretty easy since I didn’t have to go in at all during the two weeks that I was eligible to be called up. I guess there’s not enough crimes happening, or maybe the clerk just felt sorry for me and skipped me because I wrote on the contact form that I worked the overnight shift so leave a message if they couldn’t get me on the phone when they called. Oh well, I’m not all that sorry about not actually having to go in, I mean really, who wants to do jury duty?
We got socked on taxes this year which really sucks and couldn’t have happened at a worse time since cash flow has been very short lately. I was pretty much planning on at least getting some sort of refund since we have gotten decent refunds lately but the lack of the college tax credit since I’m finally done with school really hurt us more than I thought it would, plus some other factors all combined to give us a tax bill this year instead of a refund. When my life was less complicated financially it was a lot easier to plan for these things but now that I’m married and have a kid and a house and investments and whatnot I’m still working through the growing pains of learning planning for that sort of thing. I’ve made adjustments for next year so hopefully it works out better.
The government is still disfunctional and again I am seriously worried about Jessica having a job when her season is supposed to start because of the huge budget cuts scheduled in a few weeks because of that sequester thing, which is by the way a stupid name for it because most people have no idea what that means and won’t pay attention to it until after the fact when they are hurt by something in it. People cry about wanting smaller government all the time but don’t seem to realize that almost every person out there is getting a taste of something from the government that they depend on, some directly like us who would be in a world of hurt without their jobs and others who need their social security and medicare to survive, others less directly who enjoy special tax breaks on things like their health insurance or mortgages or depend on various programs that they don’t even think of as being funded by the government but are a fundamental part of their lives.
The list of stuff is endless and it seems like people bitch that blankety blank is a complete waste of money if it isn’t something that they utilize but the thingamajig that they use personally is a perfectly good use of money and resources. Everyone wants something for nothing and no one wants to pay for the things that they don’t use. If you say that you don’t get anything from the government at all then you’re delusional, in fact the people that say that tend to be the people that have their mouth on the government teat the most in one way or another. I’m just sick of the bullcrap lately. No one can have everything that they want when it comes to government because there are so many competing interests that all would ideally want something different. Meet in the middle, find compromises where no one gets everything that they want but everyone gets something that they need and stop treating it like a zero sum game where if the other guy gets anything then he won and you lost. It’s not a goddamn game where you act like the other guy is wearing a different uniform and isn’t on your team so stop treating it like one because everyone is in this together whether you like the other guy or not. We rise and fall together. Enough of that, the whole situation just has me worried is all. Most of the time the things these numbnuts do has very little impact on our day to day lives but now they are starting to screw it up so bad that it is going to affect us personally in a bad way and it’s pissing me off.
Alexander is doing great, he’s such a good kid and he’s so smart. We got so lucky with him compared to some of the problems that I have heard that other parents have with their kids and the things that go wrong. I was a little worried about the speed of his development when it came to doing physical things compared to others his age when he was younger, but he was just a bit of a late bloomer and now he’s the example kid a lot of times in his gym class and blows the other kids out of the water with the things he can do. I give a lot of the credit for that to Jessica because of all the hard work she does with him to give him exposure to all the stuff he needs to learn. She’s such a great mom even if she doesn’t think so herself sometimes. The proof is in the pudding there. He’s really starting to get fun now, I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of little babies who don’t do anything and the first year or so was difficult for me so I’m glad he has reached this point in his development without any issues. I feel really lucky about my life in general right now. Even though there are the various piddling problems that everyone has in their lives about money or whatever happens to be going wrong that day, I’ve got a great wife, a great kid, I love my home and where I live, I’ve got a good job, and all in all things are pretty good. There’s something to be said for that I guess.
Yes Steve, you are really lucky! Although most of that came from having a good head on your shoulders…knowing what works and doesn’t work for you, doing something to improve your lot in life, doing your best, and so on. You do have a lovely wife who is a good mother to your child (you need more kids, by the way LOL). I’m really proud of the man you’ve become! Love, Mom.